Coming from JWT, my old place of work, the Ten Trends for 2008 Report has declared, ‘Blue Is the New Green‘ as one of the most significant trends for 2008:
From the 1980s onward, green has symbolized the embrace of jungles and wetlands and owls and dolphins as well as people. But even green has started to feel too limited. It’s now a subset of blue, which is coming to denote the much larger emerging new spirit of good-citizen ethics.
Environmentally, blue (denoting water) is becoming as big an issue as green (forests). The era of apparently limitless clean water supplies is ending. All over the world groundwater aquifers are getting depleted or becoming salinated. Rivers are facing overexploitation, pollution and silting. Oil spills, floating garbage, industrial pollution and algae blooms are impacting seas everywhere.
A recent report from the International Water Management Institute says that if today’s food production and environmental trends continue, water crises are likely to crop up in many parts of the world. Craig Donohue, chief executive of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, predicts that water could become a commodity on futures exchanges in much the same way as carbon emissions are traded today.
As it stands, hundreds of millions in the developing world have no clean water. Soon millions more in the developed world won’t be able to take clean water for granted either. Water management and conservation will rise up the agendas of governments and corporations around the world.
Water just might become the next oil. Yet there’s one key difference between the two precious commodities: While there are some alternatives to oil, there’s no alternative to water.
Beyond the water crisis, “blue” is becoming more prevalent in our consciousness. Take nature documentaries, the consumer agenda-setters of environmentalism. One of the first notable natural history series of the 21st century was The Blue Planet, produced by the BBC in conjunction with the Discovery Channel. It explored the oceans, which cover two-thirds of the planet, and put the notion of “environment” into a broad context for viewers. It played to audiences that were becoming increasingly familiar with satellite images of weather systems sweeping in from the blue of the seas.
Then in August 2005, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in the United States got more people thinking about the environment on a big scale. Politicians and programmers started taking a serious interest in far-off glaciers and ice sheets, and the media was filled with images of blue-white ice framed by clear blue skies and icy blue sea.
Climate change has quickly become the driver of environmentalism 2.0, and consumers all over the world understand that climate is all about the seas and the sky—both blue. Environmentalism 2.0 is already a much bigger political and consumer issue than the 1.0 version, which was largely about issues such as deforestation, the ozone layer, pollution and biodiversity. And in some ways it is more immediate: While many people have never seen a rainforest, water is everywhere and conservation is more immediately actionable.
Almost unconsciously it seems, organizations and tastemakers have been tuning in to the shift from green to blue. Mercedes-Benz has patented its latest emissions-reducing technology for diesel as “Bluetec“. In the U.K., environmental specialists are favoring blue graphics and terminology, such as Level Blue Limited, a sustainability and environmental management services provider. In France, the “Pavillon Bleu” (blue flag) is awarded to towns and pleasure ports that meet all-around environmental standards, and the Blue Plan is a French-based project working toward a sustainable future for the Mediterranean.
Somehow, “blue” terminology and graphics suggest environmental responsibility in a more contemporary and credible way than “green.” It’s as if “green” became too strongly associated with “tree huggers” and the “beards and sandals” ethos of earlier environmentalism and with brands going through the motions of environmentalism (greenwashing). Now corporations embracing environmentalism can adopt “blue” without looking as though they’re jumping on the green bandwagon.
I agree with the report. Our blue planet is ill with a high fever, and there is more to saving it than plain old environmentalism. It is going to take a worldwide movement involving the whole citizenry to heal it. The good news is, all over we can see signs of citizens rising and starting to take action. Blue citizens – I just made up that word – from all walks of life. Lee Prescott at Wal-Mart, Al Gore, the Episcopal Church, eco-geeks all over the Internet, as in Do the Green Thing, U.S. Mayors, . . . All standing up for the planet, and the human race.
Blue, Green, and the “emerging new spirit of good-citizen ethics”
Marguerite, great post as usual.
A few thoughts . . .
I love blue and its symbolism of water and sky. I also love green. I agree that, in some senses, green has some baggage. But, I hope the two can get along well.
As just one part of the larger picture, perhaps some day there will be an easy, simple, color-based approach on packaging to show (credibly) which products are friendly to the sky and water (blue), friendly to organic life (green), friendly to terra firma (a rich brown), or friendly to all three (using all three colors). Some products (or activities), of course, are friendly to all three. But, some may be friendly to sky but not to earth, or to water but not to organic life. So, perhaps, in this subset of the larger picture, all three colors can play a happy role?
That said, my favorite phrase in your post is the “emerging new spirit of good-citizen ethics.” Indeed, there is a deep linkage, one that can be supported with science and good reasoning, between the concept of sustainability and the very notion of ethics/morality. To put this another way (in terms related to your phrase), “good ethics” are “about” sustainability at a very foundational level. In other words, it’s not just a nice phrase, of course, but it has very, very deep roots and is justified.
Whether blue or green or a combination best symbolizes that deeper link (between sustainability and what we ought to strive to achieve), I don’t know. The “color” of sustainability is the color of life itself, which is multicolored of course. Symbolicly, it may depend on the application. And, because humans are somewhat fickle and fashion conscious, there may come a day when blue has as much baggage (in terms of being attached to certain causes) that green may have today, especially if blue is used in ways that aren’t genuine, accurate, and so forth. So, I guess, one has to consider color credibility. And, one has to maintain color sustainability.
Of course, the sun is yellow or gold, and that’s where our energy comes from. So, an argument can be made that the ideal is a combination of blue and gold. I knew there was something special about those colors!
In ending, a couple quotes that are relevant to the theme . . .
“Necessity is the mother and teacher of Nature. Necessity is Nature’s theme and its inventor, and it is the eternal restraint and rule.”
– Leonardo da Vinci
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
– Kahlil Gibran
Jeff, I love your holistic view of things to come. You are clearly ahead of the curve here!
‘We Can Make It Happen!’
Although this is slightly off-topic (but not really) . . .
I’ve enjoyed watching some of the recent speeches, but, although I love Stevie Wonder, I know of another song that can also add to the energy and momentum, and the lyrics fit too! So, I’m moved to make this suggestion to the folks from Illinois, and I don’t know of any other place to post it, so here goes:
There is a great Chicago song called “Dialogue (Part I & II)”, which probably means little, as a title, to those who better recognize the titles “Saturday In The Park” and “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” and so forth. But, when I think of the “Dialogue” song, I think of it as the “we can make it happen!” song. I suggest that the folks from Illinois listen to it, with the lyrics in front of them, and consider whether it might be a great song to use, sometimes, as the train picks up momentum.
That’s it for today. (And thank you for your earlier comment.)
Jeff,
You should post that comment on the Obama site, and also on Youtube, under the Yes we can video.
Speaking of blue (and water), thought I’d pass along that the 5th Annual Water Conservation Showcase is planned on March 25, 2008 in San Francisco. It’s organized by the US Green Building Council, PG&E, and East Bay Municipal Utility District.
More details at:
http://tinyurl.com/2xbhj2
I will make sure to pay a visit!
[…] Blue is the New Green 2008 Environmental Trends: Blue is in, Green is out […]
Interesting – green=treehugger and blue=cool, hip, non earth destroying person 🙂
Welcome back to La Marguerite, Dawn!
I don’t mean to hurt your feelings but I have to respectfully disagree with this analysis. The video which I’m watching right now about the ocean does not indicate to me that people are about to jump into a “blue market.”
I think JWT vastly overestimates human intelligence. (Chuckle) It has taken 20 years to get green into the conscious awareness of the general population. Just because a few groups think that it is more sophisticated to be “blue conscious” instead of “green conscious” and that the masses are going to march along is unrealistic at best.
If you are an investor, I’d be careful about putting your money on the new “blue trend.”
Thanks for your perspective. Projected trends are what they are, projected . . . This being said, I also believe people are suffering from green fatigue, and that green suffers from a lot of negative baggage. Green things and trees do suffer, from earlier associations with green activists, who did little to connect with the public at large. That one is right does not necessarily makes for an effective message. Water is also going to be the new oil, and that’s got to affect the public consciousness.
Personally, I am more in the blue green camp 🙂
[…] 26, 2008 by lamarguerite Green is out, blue is in. Move out treehuggers, make room for the sky watchers, and the sea […]